I have so much to update you on, I could never do it in a single post. Here is pt 1 of however many it takes. 🙂

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From the picture I posted you may notice that I have lost a little weight. I’ve lost approximately 110 lbs to be exact! My weight kept creeping up and creeping up and I was feeling like a complete failure. Eating clean is NOT easy. Working out is NOT easy. My PCOS was out of control, but more importantly, I was out of control. I knew I needed to do something and fast.

In the fall of 2011 I began to have some “female” issues. My options were to either lose weight, or have a hysterectomy. Since I want to have children I knew that a hysterectomy just wasn’t an option for me. I had to lose the weight. For real this time. My gynecologist suggested weight loss surgery and I kind of poo-poo’d him off. Then one night, as I was crying to John about unhappy I was with my weight and fearful we’d never have a baby, John said, why not just do it? If the surgery will help to get me healthy, what did I have to lose?

That same night I began researching my options. I found out which local doctors performed the surgery and signed up for a seminar at the one I felt was the best fit for me. I went to the seminar and learned a TON of information. I submitted all my info that night to begin the process of pre-approval with my insurance company.

A few days later I got the call that while my insurance does cover that surgeon, they do not cover the hospital in which he operates. I was so disappointed! I really liked this surgeon and the new technology they used at that hospital. But obviously I can’t afford to pay out-of-pocket, so I went with my second choice (which was covered, as was the hospital).

With that snafu I decided that I needed to have as much info from my insurance company as possible. I learned that there were several criteria that had to be met in order to be approved for surgery: I had to have 6 monthly visits with my primary doctor to monitor my weight and diet, I had to see a nutritionist, get a psychological evaluation, and also meet several health criteria (a certain BMI or above, co-morbities, etc).

I jumped through all their hoops, and finally, in March of 2012 I was approved to have Gastric Bypass Surgery (Roux en-Y) and had my surgery on April 5th. Two weeks prior to surgery I had to go on a modified liquid diet. I had a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch and a high protein/low carb dinner. The goal was to lose about 20 lbs during this time. I lost 12, bringing my day of surgery weight to 355 (yes, my weight had crept right back up to 367 lbs).

Since then I am down to about 257 lbs for a total weight loss of 110 pounds in 9 months. I have so much more to share, but I’m out of time for today. Don’t worry, I’ll write again soon. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have and I’ll try to answer them in my upcoming blog posts.